Tiny moon because iPhone Cameras are dumb(ish)   Alleigh getting her hair decked out   The nearby, ornate temple. It is one of many that speckle Cambodia.   Chan-na being himself   Playing    

Ok ok, it’s only the second week of these blogs and I’m already late I know. Things came up and I was lazy, I admit my fault. A lot has happened this past week. The team was walking with some kids from the orphanage and passed by an older women planting rice in a field next to the road. Alligh (my leader) “suggested” that we ask to help her. The entire team ended up planting rice for an hour helping this woman with whom we didn’t know her language. Teaching English has been both easier and harder than I expected. Easier as in they have a baseline of English...

I have created a new normal for myself here in Kampong Cham, Cambodia. The phrase, “home is where the heart is” has never felt more like a reality.  Ministry here is not compartmentalized to my typical expectation of what it means to be a “missionary.” It’s not solely VBS, worship, and painting churches.    Ministry is doing life. Doing life is ministry.    Ministry, as I have known it, is being redefined with each moment. It is not confined to the Sunday morning usual — it’s being intentional in the...

Ok ok, technically Cinematic means relating to motion pictures, not how artfully words are strung together but give me a break! I couldn’t think of another word that even sounded like an S to go with Saturday that would give the same feelings as “Cinematic”. For those of you who didn’t read my last blog (and you totally should), today is Cinematic Saturday which means I will (try to) paint word pictures and share digital pictures of what is happening on this trip. If you want a more informational/story format, go to my Truthful Tuesday blog (which happens to be the...

My short time at New Hope for Orphans has already made me feel at home in so many different ways. I have found a home in each bright smile of all 20 children. I have found a home in the mom and the dad who provide love and care for all the children. I have found a home in my small room with 2 fans and 3 other girls who have created their own version of home on the floor with me. I have even found a home in the squatty potties/ bucket showers. But most of all I feel as though I have become a part of a beautiful community called New Hope for Orphans in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  These...

I am learning to be wax. Soft, soft wax before a fire. Hot wax that runs as if it were water. This fluidity wrecks me! The Lord wrecks me and melts me and molds me into a new creation! I have established a pretty decent routine here in Cambodia. Wake up at 4:30AM, morning prayer in a language I do not understand, breakfast at 7:00AM, and on. Every bit of me fights this routine. This routine melts my independence! But Micah 1:4 says that even the mountains will melt under the Lord. Mountains! Under this heat, the mountains rush and run like rivers. Only God can do that! As wax, I have...